Be That One Person

It is a powerful message, and it’s one I have heard often throughout the last month.

Richard Wagamese, storyteller and Canada Reads Peoples’ Choice author, spoke to educators in Thunder Bay about the one person who rescued him from a desperate life path. It’s a remarkable story that began with a simple kindness to a homeless native teenager in southern Ontario.

It ended with Richard reminding us that we have the power to be the one person who makes a difference in the life of another. As educators, we have no idea where our influence and impact will end.

Richard Wagamese, speaking to educators at the NAN Education Conference in Thunder Bay, March 30/31, 2016

Recently, I have been studying the impact of childhood trauma on long term life outcomes, including school success. The CBC Ideas 3-part Podcast, All In the Family, examines the ACE Study – Adverse Childhood Events.

CBC Ideas Podcast: All in the Family Part 2: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/all-in-the-family-part-2-1.3532422

With traumatized kids, “executive function” becomes derailed. In other words, their control over their behaviour is damaged.

A “code of conduct” is about punishment for behaviour without addressing the root cause.

How does a Code of Conduct negatively impact our most vulnerable kids, and amplify their inability to cope?

“Traumatized kids have a “fragmented” executive function”.

“The single greatest predictor of academic success that exists is the emotional stability of the home, it’s not the classroom. And if you really wanted to do education reform, you would start with the home, darn it, you wouldn’t start with the classroom, because it is the greatest predictor.”